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Race to Save Water

Two families compete to see which can conserve the most water over one week, in this video from PLUM LANDING. They calculate and record how much water they use in their daily activities, such as showering, brushing their teeth, and flushing the toilet, and talk about ways to use less water for these and other activities.

Here are suggested ways to engage students with this video and with activities related to conservation.

Viewing the Video: Use the following suggestions to guide students’ viewing of the video.

Before: Talk with students about the water they use at home and at school. How did they use water before they came to school today? Did they use any water while they were at school?

After: Continue the discussion about how students use water at home. How much water do they think they use in a week? Is it more or less than the families in the video? Why is it important to conserve water?

Explore Some More:

Water, Water, Everywhere Encourage students to carry out their own weeklong water conservation challenge, competing to see whose family conserves the most water over a one-week time period. For consistency, have your students track the same types of water usage as the kids in the video: number of times the toilet is flushed, length of time for showers, and length of time water runs while washing hands or brushing teeth.

Have your students track their normal water usage for one week, then have them track it after employing water conservation strategies, like taking shorter showers or using less water in the toilet tank. You might rewatch the video and have students take notes on the parameters the families used to calculate their total water usage (1 flush = 3 gallons of water; 10 seconds of water from the faucet = 2 cups of water; 10 seconds of water from the shower = 3 cups of water). After one week, have students compare how much water their families used. Then, see how much less water each family uses the following week while trying to conserve the amount of water they use. Who will win the water conservation challenge?

To add to the challenge, students might identify other locations where they can keep track of their water usage, such as the kitchen or laundry area. With their parents' help, have them find out how much water their appliances, such as washing machines or dishwashers, use. For more tips on how they can use less water in and around their homes, show them Conserving Water from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.